Crypto firms demand Senate markup of CLARITY

TLDR

More than 100 crypto firms are urging the US Senate to finally hold a markup on the CLARITY Act, a major federal crypto market structure bill.

1. A coalition including Coinbase, Ripple, Circle, Kraken and a16z sent an April 23 letter asking the Senate Banking Committee to schedule a CLARITY Act markup soon.
2. They argue that delay leaves the US stuck in regulation by enforcement, while other regions gain an edge, and that key fights now center on stablecoin yields and developer protections.
3. The bill faces a tight May window and sub 50 percent passage odds in 2026, so traders and builders should watch for a markup date, changes to stablecoin rules, and any shift in odds of passage.

Deep Dive

1. Coalition Push And What A Markup Is

A coalition of over 100 crypto companies and trade groups, including Coinbase, Ripple, Circle, Kraken, Uniswap Labs, Andreessen Horowitz and Galaxy Digital, sent a joint letter on April 23 to Senate Banking leaders Tim Scott, Elizabeth Warren, Cynthia Lummis and Ruben Gallego, urging them to notice and proceed towards a markup of the CLARITY Act. This is documented in reports from CoinDesk and others.

A markup is the committee session where senators debate and amend bill text before it can move to a full Senate vote, so without a markup the bill effectively cannot advance. As of late April 2026, multiple reports note that the Senate Banking Committee still has not scheduled that markup.

2. What The CLARITY Act Would Actually Do

The CLARITY Act is a digital asset market structure bill that would draw a statutory line between digital commodities and investment contract assets, clarifying which tokens fall under the CFTC versus the SEC, and setting federal rules for trading platforms and disclosures. Coverage in outlets like CoinDesk and crypto.news highlights six top priorities from the industry letter, including:

1. Clear SEC and CFTC oversight roles.
2. Protections so non custodial and open source developers are not treated as brokers.
3. Rules for payment stablecoins and their rewards, plus simplified token disclosure and a single federal baseline instead of 50 state regimes.

Banks and some lawmakers are pushing back on stablecoin yield and rewards provisions, while crypto firms want activity based rewards preserved. These disputes, plus concerns about DeFi and developer liability, are central reasons the bill is stalled in Senate Banking even after a strong House vote in July 2025.

3. Timing, Odds And Why Crypto Cares

Industry groups and trade associations like the Digital Chamber frame this as a now or much later moment. Senators such as Bernie Moreno and Cynthia Lummis have warned that if the committee misses a late May window, the bill could be shelved until after the election cycle and possibly to around 2030. Prediction platforms tracked by analysts now put 2026 passage odds below 50 percent, down from much higher levels earlier in April.

In the meantime, the US remains in a patchwork regime and relies heavily on enforcement actions, while the EU and others already run under comprehensive frameworks. For crypto users and builders, the immediate impact is continued legal uncertainty, but any announcement of a markup date, a compromise on stablecoin yields, or a sudden swing in passage odds could become a narrative driver for US facing tokens, exchanges and stablecoin issuers.

Conclusion

A broad crypto industry front is trying to force the US Senate to move the CLARITY Act out of limbo by demanding a formal markup, arguing that the status quo pushes capital and developers offshore. The bill could meaningfully reshape which agencies police which tokens, how stablecoins can pay rewards and how DeFi developers are treated, but it faces both banking sector resistance and a rapidly closing legislative window. Until there is a markup on the calendar, the main takeaway for crypto participants is that regulatory clarity in the US remains a key macro catalyst rather than a done deal.